A Russian chef has been arrested in France in connection with a “large-scale” plot to destabilise France during the Olympic Games.
The 40-year-old was arrested during a raid on his central Paris apartment on Sunday, where a document linked to a Russian special forces unit operating under the FSB, the heir to the KGB, was reportedly found.
A judicial inquiry has been opened into allegations of “sharing information with a foreign power with the aim of provoking hostilities in France”, a crime punishable by 30 years in prison.
Paris prosecutors said the search of the Russian citizen’s apartment on Saint-Denis Street on the right bank of the Seine was carried out on orders from the French Interior Ministry.
According to French media, the agents who raided the unnamed man’s apartment discovered “elements suggesting that he was preparing pro-Russian operations to destabilise France during the Olympic Games”.
Armed guards have been seen patrolling metal barricades erected near the River Seine in Paris ahead of the start of the Olympic Games.
Police officers take security measures as preparations continue ahead of the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 22, 2024 in Paris.
Officers also found evidence suggesting the man was planning a “large-scale project” that could have had “serious” consequences during the three weeks of the games.
Le Monde, citing several European intelligence agencies, said authorities had found an identity document on the Russian man suggesting he worked for a unit under the command of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
The French newspaper also reported that intelligence services had listened to a call in May between the man and a Russian intelligence agent.
There they heard the suspect say that “the French are going to hold an opening ceremony like never before.”
Le Monde revealed that the man had trained as a chef in Paris after first arriving in 2010, and had taken part in Russian reality TV and cooking shows.
During his 14 years in France, he worked for a time in a Michelin-starred restaurant in the ski resort of Courchevel, popular with the Russian elite, before moving to Paris in 2012.
According to emails from 2012 seen by the French outlet, the suspect had told his landlady that he was returning to Moscow to work as a Russian government official.
The intelligence services, with their growing suspicions, followed him for months and detected the call to his alleged contact two months ago while he was returning to Paris from Istanbul.
He had missed his flight due to excessive alcohol and instead returned home via Bulgaria when talk of the Olympic opening ceremony was overheard, the paper said.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said this week that authorities had tested more than a million people ahead of the games.
“We are here to ensure that sport is not used for espionage, cyber attacks or to criticise and sometimes even lie about France and the French,” said Darmanin.
The Olympic Games begin on Friday with a spectacular, if logistically complicated, opening ceremony along the River Seine.
France has launched its biggest security operation yet to safeguard the Games, which are taking place against a backdrop of wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Armed guards near Place de la Bastille, Paris. The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place on Friday, July 26 along the River Seine.
Locals were seen eating at a restaurant behind a perimeter fence in Paris that is being used as a first line of defence.
Police officers take security measures as preparations continue ahead of the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 22, 2024 in Paris.
Police control access to roads near the River Seine ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics
Armed guards have been seen patrolling boulevards and venues around the city, while metal barriers now line the Seine.
The four-mile metal barricade was installed by the Paris Police Prefecture and will remain in place throughout the Games to prevent and deter any trouble.
This anti-terrorist fence, called SILT or “steel belt”, is ultimately the first line of defence and was initially erected on 18 July.
Anyone wishing to enter the protected area will need to scan a QR code to enter the closed part of the city.
All vehicles are also prohibited from entering certain areas around some of the event venues, and only emergency vehicles are allowed to pass through.
A huge force of some 45,000 police officers from 43 countries and 18,000 soldiers will form the defence system.
But alongside human efforts, the “unprecedented” operation will also involve several air units, including Rafale fighter jets, AWACS surveillance flights, Reaper surveillance drones and helicopters with expert snipers on board.
Some 1,700 British police officers are already supporting French officers in Paris and Marseille, as well as UK sniffer dogs that have been hand-picked by French authorities.
Relations between France and Russia have been deteriorating for months, with President Emmanuel Macron a prominent critic of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and a staunch supporter of the government in kyiv.
French authorities have repeatedly pointed to alleged Russian disinformation campaigns, while Russia has arrested a French researcher in the country on espionage charges.
Last month, French police arrested a 26-year-old Ukrainian-Russian man after he blew himself up with explosive materials in a hotel room north of Paris.
He was being investigated by France’s domestic spy agency on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist conspiracy and a bomb plot.
Also in June, Russia arrested French researcher Laurent Vinatier for allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent while gathering information on the Russian military.
He is part of a growing list of foreigners detained in Russia who have been caught up in the crisis in relations between Russia and the West during the war in Ukraine.